Celtic Diary Saturday April 26: Lennon in for Larsson ?

In the grown up world that surrounds Scottish football, Peter Lawwell showed the way when he laid a wreth at Ibrox in respect of Sandy Jardine, who died yesterday.

In the childish world that surrounds Scottish football, Ralph Malph and one or two others played that well known parlour game ” Whats the funniest thing about the huns dying ” which went on long into the night, with no clear winner.

Neil Lennon , though , was looking to the future, with news that the mighty Rangers are on their way back. ( Stop sniggering )

“They would need to spend a lot of money I think,” Lennon said. “Whether they have that money, I don’t know.

“That’s three years down the line (2017), it is ambitious.

“We are really strong and we have no thought of relinquishing that title yet.”

The champions will set out to make it title number four next season with a new assistant manager after Johan Mjallby confirmed this week he will leave the club at the end of the campaign.

The Swede, who became Lennon’s assistant in 2010, wants to “seek some different opportunities”.

Lennon tried and failed to talk his former Celtic team-mate around, but revealed his phone had been “red hot” since the announcement as he looks for a replacement.

“I am very sorry to see him go,” said the former Celtic skipper. “He has been here from day one with me and he has had a huge influence here over the last four years.

“But he has been away from his family for quite a while and that can take its toll.

“I have time to make that decision but the phone has been red-hot for the last week or so already.

“I will sit down and talk with Peter (Lawwell, chief executive) and the board over the next few weeks and come to some sort of conclusion, but ideally the guy will be in for June 25.

“It is something we need to take our time with, it is an important decision.

“I have a few people in mind but whether they can come and do it at this stage of their career, I don’t know.”

Lennon stressed that he is not looking for a ‘yes man’ to replace Mjallby.

He said: “We grew together and Johan certainly wasn’t a yes man either, we had our differences.

“Ideally, I want someone who will come in and bring something different, be able to challenge the manager – in the right way obviously – and if things aren’t working out to put his opinion across and not just agree with everything I want to do, although ultimately it will be my decision.

“But I don’t want to be continually bickering like an old married couple, although that can work sometimes as well.

“Ideally you would want him to have an affiliation with the club, but that is not the be-all and end-all.

“It is someone who will be progressive in his ideas and buy into what we are trying to do. And I need someone to come in and gain the respect of the players.”

Lennon ruled out a return to Celtic Park of club legend Henrik Larsson, who took over as boss at Swedish club Falkenberg in December.

He said: “Knowing Henrik he wouldn’t want to be number two to anybody, let alone me.”

Thats okay, because he wouldn’t be for long. But ask him anyway. And thats your season book sales sorted. And it gave me a headline.

From what other managers have said about Larsson, he’s going to be a great manager, and when you look at who he played under, they all say he wanted to learn….

Lennon explained how he had tried to talk Mjallby into staying;

“Johan’s got his own ambitions and interests that he wants to pursue. I tried to talk him out of it on a few occasions but he’s very strong-minded.

“He thought that four years was enough. He has been away from his family for over 18 months as well and that can take its toll. So, I understand it. I’m very disappointed, obviously, because he’s been with me since day one.

“Being away from his family had a huge impact on his decision as well. He’s got two kids going through college and he’s been away from them for quite a while.

“I’m sure he will have a few suitors now and he may want to do his own thing and I completely respect that.

“I’m disappointed, not in him but disappointed in the fact I’ve lost a very valuable member of my staff. He was my confidant, my No.2, he was someone whose opinion I really trusted and still do.

“Even if I do bring in someone from the outside there’s got to be a feeling from myself that I can go to this guy, I can pick his brains or I can trust his opinion, not necessarily whether I agree with it.

“I didn’t always agree with Johan but ultimately the decision is mine when it comes to football and ultimately the decision will be mine on who I bring in as well.

“The phone has been red-hot and CVs have come in. I’m not convinced what I’m looking for as yet.

“Ideally, if the guy is astute on the training ground he might bring something fresh to what we’re doing here.

“Maybe European experience as well – that’s not a necessity but it would certainly help.

“I don’t have a problem with it being someone from left field, someone I don’t know.

“But it’s a great job – working with me!

“It’s exciting for me as well, someone coming in with a different skill set maybe and a different view of the game.

“What you don’t want is someone bickering with you 24/7 but I’d like someone to come in and challenge me on a few things and have a certain level of intelligence.

“Johan was never a ‘yes’ man. He had his own thoughts on things and we did argue over a few things but it never came to blows – which is a good thing because I’d have lost!”

Continuity is the key, and perhaps, despite having a lot of admiration for Mjallby, its not a bad thing that he’s moved on. Fresh ideas can be a good thing, and maybe the club will move forward.

Perhaps we’ll even see substitutes given more than five minutes…

If you don’t know who this guy is yet, you soon will. At the moment he is with Burnley, having helped them to the big league. Well, thats where he is at the moment…..

Tim Heaton. Sorry, Tom Heaton. But we hear he’s up for a change.

And we heard that before the Sun did.

Theres a major, major problem with the Scottish press. When they are in front of the leading manager in Scottish football, they ask him about a club in another league. For those of you reading this where tv , radio, newspapers and the internet doesn’t reach ( eh ? ) Manchester United sacked Davie Moyes this week. even though he won more trophies in his short spell there than he did in his long spell at Everton.

And they’ve replaced him in the short term with Ryan Giggs, presumably because the decision to sack Moyes was made somewhat suddenly. Lennon was asked for his thoughts..

“I’m surprised because it’s Man United for a start. I’m disappointed for David. What appalled me was the way he was treated, certainly over the past three or four months, to the point where people were trying to humiliate the man.

“So, yes, I’m surprised they sacked him. Being Man United, you just felt the way they had been run for the past 15 years or so they would have given him more time and been a bit more understanding in the circumstances.

“It’s indicative of the way the game is going. It’s certainly a worry for all managers when you see that happening.

“It’s almost as if the 11 years he had at Everton have been wiped out.

“People have forgotten about them. What disappointed me last week was the reaction he got from Everton fans, coming off the bus.

“It was really disappointing considering the sweat he put into that club. Eleven years is a
lifetime. They are reaping the rewards. Roberto Martinez has come in but the platform was already in place and that was put there by Davie.

“Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. I hope Man United don’t go down the road of hiring and firing managers the way they do in certain other countries.

“We’ve seen it this year already. That’s 10 managers now who have gone. Fulham have sacked two which is incredible really. So that’s 50 per cent of the teams in the Premier League. It just shows you how difficult the job has become.”

Or is he admittting that if he wanted a premiership club, theres no rush?  Theres one coming along every few weeks…

Liam Miller was the boy who wishes he had turned his phone off when alex Ferguson came calling, although his bank manager is probably happy enough with how it all turned out. He could have been a contender…

Meanwhile, whats going on here ?

( I was about half a dozen seats to the right that day , and walked back to the car with Marc Reiper, Morten Weighorst and Johan Mjallby, well sort of behind them but pretending….. )